AVANT GARDENER Yvette Tan I wrote about this in Agriculture.com.ph early last year, and I think it’s worth revisiting, because in a market flooded with adulterated honey, or “fakes,” we can always get a refresher on how to choose unadulterated, or “pure” honey. Not all honey available...
AVANT GARDENER Yvette Tan In early 2020, I interviewed Raymund Aaron of Villa Socorro Agri Eco-Village in Pagsanjan, Laguna. Aaron, whose business card says he is the resort’s Banana Chief, doesn’t just manage his family’s farm and resort. He also developed the resort’s most famous product,...
AVANT GARDENER Yvette Tan I got to listen to the Department of Agriculture’s (DA) Undersecretary for High Value Crops and Rural Credit Evelyn G. Laviña discussed the revised Philippine Coffee Roadmap, which is due to be released late this year. The Roadmap is a collaboration between the...
AVANT GARDENER Yvette Tan There’s a school of thought that’s been going around agriculture circles for some time, and that the industry needs to be repackaged as “sexy” in order to attract practitioners and investors. The most common way I’ve observed this being done is through marketing...
AVANT GARDENER Yvette Tan Five agriculture myths that need to die Farming, like politics, is a contentious topic in the Philippines, especially for folks who aren’t exposed to the agriculture industry. It’s very easy to come up with an opinion on a subject when one has no real exposure to it...
AVANT GARDENER Yvette Tan I fell in love with agriculture because I like to eat The second most common question I get asked is, “How did you fall in love with agriculture?” My answer is always, “food.” More often than not, this answer shocks people, or at the very least, makes them laugh. I...
AVANT GARDENER Yvette Tan I’ve always maintained that owning a farm is the original Filipino dream. Unfortunately, like many dreams, owning a successful farm can be challenging. Aside from the difficulty in acquiring adequate farmland suitable for the crops or livestock one wants to cultivate or...
AVANT GARDENER Yvette Tan Agriculture industry. This is the name we call everything that falls under the terms “agriculture,” which, contrary to popular misconception, isn’t just about planting and harvesting. Agriculture work isn’t limited to farming, but that’s for another column....
AVANT GARDENER Yvette Tan Chocolate and bananas are a delicious combination, but did you know that these two crops also pair well together in the field? Cacao has been on the news lately. What isn’t talked about is how many cacao farmers have been commenting that it takes a long time - about four...
AVANT GARDENER Yvette Tan When I’m not writing about agriculture, I’m writing about folk practices, beliefs, and the supernatural. This was because before I became an agriculture editor, I was (and still am) a horror writer whose stories focused on local folkloric beings and practices, a lot of...
AVANT GARDENER Yvette Tan As the number of farmers in the country continues to decrease even as their median age increases, there has been a push to encourage people, especially young ones, to consider agriculture as a source of income. While there are many success stories of people who have made a...
AVANT GARDENER Yvette Tan Food has become such a big part of pop culture that there are people who base their personalities on what they’ve eaten and where they’ve eaten it. There is nothing bad about this. Eating is an easy way to get to know a culture, and experiencing different flavors can...
